Knots
by YugamiYoshitsune
Summary: After a nearly sleepless night and an annoying day at court, Athena suffers from a terrible tension headache. Simon offers to make it better. Friendship/platonic Cykesquill, fluff and a bit of reciprocal teasing. Written for the PWKM.


Written for the following request on the PWKM:

_Somebody gives Athena a back rub for some reason...And she's rather, shall we say, receptive to this._

_Bonus points for Athena trying to hold any reaction to this in for as long as she can. And even more bonus points if she eventually fails at that._

The OP specified that her favorite pairing option for this prompt was platonic Cykesquill, so this is what we have here. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>Wow, where did he learn how to do this?<em>

Athena was leaning forward far enough for the ends of her ponytail to brush the floor, just about completely oblivious to her surroundings. Well, except for one part: the warm, strong hands kneading her back muscles through her blouse, not too forcefully, but also not so softly as to be ineffectual.

She had had a bear of a day at court today – 'irritating' did not even begin to describe it. Add to that that her and Apollo's investigation yesterday had gone on until the early morning hours, seeing that the scene of the crime their defendant had been accused of had been a night club and witnesses had been hard to come by during daylight hours, and that she had only been able to nap in one of the Wright Agency's visitor's chairs for an hour and a half after they had finished up their preparations… the bout against Payne had been the last straw in giving her such a pronounced tension headache that she could not even _think_ about sleeping by the time she had made it out of the courtroom. In the hallway, she had run into Simon, who had just finished up his own trial, and who had taken a single look at her pinched expression and spirited her away to his apartment right away, stating that she looked as though she needed to unburden herself before doing anything else.

Ever since his release, she had spent a good amount of her free time with him, considering that the first nine months of their reacquaintance after her return from Europe had not exactly been what one could describe as 'normal' – having to pretend to not know each other, being rebuffed in a bid for protection and attempting to cut through the haze of what had happened seven years ago, respectively… it had been painful in so many ways. Now, however, everything was out in the open, the riddle of what had happened to her mother had been solved, and while the relief of reaching her goal had also brought renewed grief with it, Athena had slowly but surely come to terms with everything. Simon had helped her immensely, particularly once the façade he had maintained for so long had begun to gradually thaw when they were in private. She was glad to be able to call him her friend once more, although they had both agreed that their close personal relationship had to remain outside of the courtroom setting in the name of maintaining professionalism.

Thankfully, the courthouse hallway apparently did not count as 'strictly professional' territory, though – otherwise, Athena would not have found herself sitting on his couch half an hour later, massaging her temples while ranting about Payne, the idiocy of some of the witnesses, and the fact that Apollo had passed out on the couch just as she had finished up the last document, leaving only the chair for her to sleep in.

Simon had shaken his head when she had arrived at the final point in her tirade. "Chivalry seems to be dead, at least when it comes to Justice-dono. Are you still in pain, then?"

Athena had grimaced. "Claro que sí. I don't think I'm gonna be able to turn my head for a few days after this…"

"This won't do," he had responded firmly. "If you will turn your back to me, I shall see whether I can help you alleviate some of the tension."

When he had first laid hand on her back and shoulders, it had ached, but somehow, he had worked out the worst muscle kinks in a matter of minutes, asking her to take her jacket off once he could feel the most pronounced tightness loosening.

That had been about ten minutes ago, and by now, he had just about reduced Athena to a puddle, her head lolling between her knees, her eyes closed. She could have gone to sleep like this, except that that not only would have doubtlessly brought renewed discomfort, his touch felt just too _nice _to completely nod off. In fact, the way his fingers moved along her spine between a circular rubbing motion here and a gentle poke at a still-tense section of muscle there was so pleasant, she had difficulties not letting out noises that might give him the wrong impression…

She had only just resolved to hold in the sighs threatening to escape when Simon's hands moved back up to the nape of her neck, the pressure with which he imbued his attentions lessening, merely brushing along the sensitive skin there as he gently checked for more knots to massage out.

Athena barely managed to tone down the moan welling up in her throat to a hum by firmly closing her lips.

The motions of Simon's fingers promptly halted.

"Are you not feeling well?"

She snickered at the hint of hesitation in his voice. "Are you kidding? Maybe I'm a bit _too _well now, you're amazing at this."

His heart told her that the smidgen of worry he had felt at hearing the noise was gone as quickly as it had shown up.

"…I see. Would you prefer that I stop, then?"

"I, um…" Now, Athena was happy that her face was still turned towards his living room carpet, as she knew she was blushing slightly. "If you don't mind, could you continue for a bit longer?"

Simon chuckled as his fingers resumed their path. "I have no objections, though I will not be held responsible for your falling asleep like this, nor for any further unintended utterances on your part. Far be it from me to boast, but I had rather a reputation for back massages in the clink."

_He knows I didn't mean to make that noise – and now he's probably just going to try and get more out of me to stroke his ego. _The thought was filled with exasperated amusement, _and _served to make her flush an even deeper shade of red.

_Two can play that game, buster._

Athena did _not _hold back a luxurious moan when he worked at the junctures of her neck and shoulders with perfect pressure, causing his rhythm to falter for a split second. Simon cleared his throat when she did it again as he pushed gently against the dip in the small of her back. Finally, when she let out a true masterpiece of feigned pre-orgasmic bliss upon the side of his hand settling between her shoulder blades, he began to laugh with a snort.

"At this point, you are boundlessly exaggerating. I did not wish to believe Gavin-dono when he said you were prone to overacting, but now I know better."

"I thought I'd reward you for your efforts, Mr. 'I was the best back rubber in jail,'" Athena teased back with a giggle.

Simon's hands fell away from her body, prompting her to sit up with a slight hint of alarm – the words had emerged by themselves, but she usually avoided offering any jabs at his incarceration from her side, seeing that she did not want to risk inviting renewed distance between them. If _he _joked about it, fine, but it felt wrong for her to do so, given that she still felt responsible for everything that had happened to him.

However, when she turned to look at him, only barely registering that not a hint of pain remained, he was smiling at her – and was that an ever-so-faint blush high on _his _cheeks?

"Then that is how I shall view your little performance just now – although I shall count myself lucky that no one else has chosen to _reward _me in quite that manner before," he murmured. "Would you like me to take you home, or would you rather take up _my _couch for a few hours of uninterrupted sleep?"

Only now, Athena realized that her eyelids were beginning to slide shut, and her mouth opened in a wide yawn.

"'M too tired to go anywhere now… kann ich hier schlafen?" she asked drowsily after she was able to unlock her jaw once more.

Simon let out an amused huff. "If your English is failing, the latter option is clearly advisable. Here, lie down. I will wake you in a few hours, and we can see about procuring dinner then."

Athena barely heard him anymore, as she had pulled her legs up on the piece of furniture as soon as he had risen to make room for her. Only a fraction of consciousness remained when she felt a light blanket being draped over her. Then, there was nothing but darkness and a sense of warm, comfortable safety.


End file.
